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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29708751">Curiosity and Contentment</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/buzzbuzz34/pseuds/buzzbuzz34'>buzzbuzz34</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>AroAceingTheLine 2021 [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aromantic Character, Gen, Spoilers for Ancient Rome Sidequest (Rusty Quill Gaming), aroaceingtheline2021</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 17:28:45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>513</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29708751</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/buzzbuzz34/pseuds/buzzbuzz34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Back in Ancient Rome, Sasha carves out a new family for herself, taking care of the orphaned kids so that they never have to go through what she did.  Young Wilde wants to know why Sasha isn’t married - but they both agree that flips are way cooler than any of that romance stuff.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>AroAceingTheLine 2021 [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2177421</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>AroAceing the Line</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Curiosity and Contentment</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for day 5 of @aroaceingtheling 2021!  Today, with the prompt Family.</p>
<p>I posted this a day late, I'm sorry!  These last two days have been an absolute mess for me lol</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="">
  <p>Sasha watched the kids practice their flips.  Their technique was still a little sloppy, but they were making progress, and she supposed that maybe she hadn’t been the most finessed in her tumbling at their age either.  <em>Maybe</em>.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>She scanned over the field, ignoring the constant bickering that eventually turned into background noise, and then realized one of the children was missing.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>While part of Sasha was impressed that one managed to sneak off without her noticing, most of her was concerned and a little bit terrified.  Where had they gotten off to?  The area was safe enough, and the villa was of decent size, so they probably hadn’t gone far, but that didn’t calm Sasha’s nerves.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>In the end, there was no need for concern.  Sasha’s eyes eventually fell upon Wilde, stood before her and looking up at her with curious eyes.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Wilde, you’re supposed to be working on your tumbling,” Sasha said, kneeling down so that she was at equal height.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Do you have a husband?” She asked nonchalantly, ignoring Sasha’s remark.  “Or a wife?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Sasha stumbled in place and put a hand down on the earth to steady herself.  She never lost her balance, but the question caught her so off-guard that she couldn’t help it.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“No… why would I?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Wilde shrugged. “Seems like most grown-ups do.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>With a faint sigh, Sasha shifted her position so that she sat cross legged on the ground, and gestured for Wilde to do the same, which she did.  She looked up at Sasha intently.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Listen, Wilde, not all grown-ups have a husband or a wife or a spouse,” she explained.  “Sometimes they just haven’t gotten married yet, sometimes they <em>were </em>and then the other person… went away…”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Wilde frowned; all the kids knew of loss, given that they were orphaned in the bombardment of Rome, but it was still hard to discuss.  They were only children, after all, and no one at that age should be so exposed to rampant death and suffering.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Sasha pressed on. “And some people, like me, just don’t want a spouse.  We’ve got our friends and our families, and that’s all we need.  I’ve never felt that whole romance thing lots of people do. Some people just <em>don’t</em>. And when you get older, maybe you’ll find that you don’t either, or maybe you will, either way, you’re good enough as you are.  And there are people that will make you better, but you don’t have to love them <em>like that</em> for them to mean the world to you.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>After a moment of confusion, Wilde nodded intently.  “I get it! You just want to do flips, and not worry about boys or girls or anything.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“<em>Exactly</em>.” Finally, someone understood.  </p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I like that.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Sasha smiled.  “And, you know, maybe you’ll eventually find you want to split your time between sneaky stuff and the other stuff, but for now, what do you say we go check in on your brothers before Azus gets dropped again?  It <em>is</em> scheduled tumbling time, and there are loads more sick flips for you to learn.”</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!  Check out aroaceingtheline.tumblr.com for more good aro ace content!</p>
<p>I didn't mean to make this like a Stellar Firma title but then I thought of it and I had to roll with it lol</p>
<p>If you want to find more of my writing, head on over to kellanswritingblog.tumblr.com, or feel free to check out my personal, celsidebottom.tumblr.com &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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